Patterns of Communication in a Rural Population. Research Bulletin 1095.

Patterns of communication among residents of a predominantly rural county in Ohio were analyzed in 1975 to examine behavioral and attitudinal patterns regarding mass communication systems, and to test the extent to which variations in attitudes toward mass media were a function of variations in socio-economic and demographic characteristics. Hypotheses addressed three issues: the extent to which rural people relied upon mass media for informational needs; attitudinal dispositions toward mass media; and the explanation of the expected patterns of variations in these dispositions. Respondents (N=345) were predominantly older males and about 45% reported that they were engaged in either full or part-time agriculture. After ranking the five most important county problems (lack of jobs, crime, poor roads, poor leadership, and poor schools), respondents provided information on their use of mass media. The results revealed a high level of mass media usage for all types of informational needs, general satisfaction with the media, low level of perceived credibility in television news reporting, and low ability to predict variations in attitudes about credibility from knowledge of demographic characteristics and other social-psychological orientations. Reliance on mass media had become a dominant pattern of communication within the county. (BRR)